Saturday, March 14, 2009

Hiatus

I finally tracked down a copy of Hiatus' "The Brain" album online. I have it on vinyl, but I can't find my copy, and I haven't been able to find a CD version or legal MP3. It's a great album, easily one of the better crust albums from the early 90s. They production is a notch above your typical punk record, so they sound like they are playing instruments and not cardboard boxes. It has a really heavy sound, not unlike early Metallica. It's not the kind of thing I want to listen to a lot, but when I'm in the mood for something tortured and heavy, it fits the bill. Also, it is a 12", so it's all over in less than half an hour.

What I like about Hiatus is that there is an emotion behind their music. They went for something a little deeper than your standard "blarrrlrlrlr fuck the system VIVISECTION!!!" One of my favorite tracks is "Home Sweet Home," about being homeless. The record has a full lyric sheet, so he really is saying something, not that you can make it out.

I used to listen to this kind of stuff to fall asleep, by the way. There is something about music that is so heavy that I find very relaxing. It kind of fills up all of the space, so that it ends up being calming in a weird way.

Contributors

Where I'm From

I grew up near Santa Cruz and live in San Francisco. The first album I bought was Herbie Hancock's Future Shock. I buy too many albums. I think about music too much. This is an outlet for my musings on everything from punk to hip hop, so my friends don't have to put up with my rambling.

I am a regular contributor to RapReviews. I used to write for Blogcritics.org. My work has appeared in print in the now-defunct Clamor magazine.